I think so too.
Unfortunately, I don't know if I can defer till next year right now. I will have to talk to my consultant. And the student loan will gather interest till next year too so I have to consider that.
Yes, a friend of mine was granted a study permit in the General category last year after getting a refusal in the SPP category (as it was known at that time) and given the same reason. I have emailed him to know what he did to improve his application. The only difference is that he had a GIC certificate but it's not mandatory under the General category.
I think I failed to clarify in my application that part of the education loan was going to be used for living expenses too. I think that's the problem but I'm not sure because the reason given is vague, to say the least. I assumed that they would understand that the loan includes the living costs because the loan amount is higher than the total tuition fee.
I think CAIPS notes will take some time to arrive. I will have to talk to my consultant about that too.
I will consider my options with my consultant and get back to you tomorrow.
Thank you for your help!